Mike Zalewski | Defenseman

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The Vancouver Canucks have sent eight players to the Utica Comets of the AHL.

The players sent down are Mike Zalewski, Dane Fox, Alexandre Grenier, Kellan Lain Alexandre Mallet, Jeremie Blain. Spencer Humphries and Curtis Valk. Zalewski signed with the Canucks as an undrafted free agent in March. He did play in two games with Vancouver last season, registering one assist. Thu, Sep 25, 2014 04:52:00 PM

Zalewski will come with a $925,000 annual cap hit at the NHL level. Zalewski had 26 points and 53 penalty minutes in 35 NCAA games last season. He also had an assist in two contests with the Vancouver Canucks. He'll probably start the 2014-15 campaign in the minors, but he's worth keeping an eye on. Tue, Jul 1, 2014 10:23:00 AM

The former RPI star played 11:13 minutes on left wing and managed a couple of shots on goal in the 5-2 loss to the Oilers. Zalewski was signed by the Canucks to an entry-level deal on March 14 after he was overlooked by every NHL team in his draft years. Look for Zalewski to start the 2014-15 season in the minors. Sun, Apr 13, 2014 02:42:00 AM

The Vancouver Canucks have inked Mike Zalewski to an entry-level contract.

Zalewski had nine goals and 26 points in 35 NCAA games this season. The 21-year-old was never drafted by an NHL team and was in his second year with R.P.I. Fri, Mar 14, 2014 05:44:00 PM

Depth Charts

Sedin is on a four-game multi-point streak. He has three goals and eight points over that span. With 12 goals and 54 points in 59 games in 2014-15, he's already surpassed his 2013-14 total of 50 points in 70 contests.

Coach Willie Desjardins shuffled a couple of his lines on Saturday as Nick Bonino also switched and was between Derek Dorsett and Radim Vrbata. Look for the Canucks to take these lines into Sunday's game against St. Louis.

Bo Horvat credits his growing confidence as a contributing factor in his recent offensive outburst.

Horvat has four goals and eight points in his last 10 games after recording eight points in his first 32 contests. "I am carrying the puck a little bit more than I was at the beginning of the year," Horvat said. "To have that confidence and not be afraid to make mistakes has definitely helped me out. It’s nice to have that confidence to take the puck to the net and not give too much respect to your opponent." We expect Horvat to cool down offensively, but in the long run he has a lot of potential. Horvat could develop into a great two-way forward and fantasy owners should keep a close eye on him next season and he'll be a potential breakout candidate.

Brad Richardson (LBI) will be held out of the lineup Monday night in Florida.

Richardson sustained a lower body injury on January 16th against the Hurricanes and is unable to dress Monday against the Panthers. He has eight goals and 11 assists in 43 games played and is considered day-to-day.

Veteran forward Daniel Sedin scored two goals, including the game winner in overtime, to spark the visiting Vancouver Canucks to a 5-4 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks Wednesday night.

Sedin posted his 13th goal of the season at 1:20 of overtime to give the Canucks the win. He scored his 12th goal at 15:23 of the third period to give the Canucks a 4-2 lead. His twin bro, Henrik, assisted on both goals. Henrik's assist total on the season increased to 37. Also contributing two assists apiece for Vancouver were Luca Sbisa and Chris Higgins. The other Vancouver goal scorers were Linden Vey (eighth), Bo Horvat (sixth) and Zack Kassian (fifth).

Vrbata has 22 goals and 44 points in 59 contests in 2014-15. He's played primarily with the Sedin twins this season, but he skated on a line with Derek Dorsett and Nick Bonino on Sunday. He'll probably end up back on a line with Henrik and Daniel Sedin eventually, but this situation is worth monitoring closely as Vrbata's fantasy worth does take a hit when he's off the top line, even if he had a good game on Sunday.

The Canucks third line of Derek Dorsett, Zack Kassian and Shawn Matthias was a plus-nine on Friday.

All three were plus-three as Matthias picked up the hat trick while Kassian had a pair of assists and Dorsett chipped in with one. If the Canucks get this type of performance on a semi-regular basis from the line, they will be tough to stop in the playoffs.

Nicklas Jensen and Bobby Sanguinetti are scratched from Sunday's tilt with the New York Islanders.

Sanguinetti has barely cracked the NHL since being drafted in the first round back in 2006, but there isn't much more fantasy value in Jensen at this time. He has just six points in 24 career NHL games, compared to 45 points in 112 AHL games.

Linden Vey notched a goal, but Vancouver came up short in its 3-2 loss to the Flames on Saturday night.

The 23-year-old has points in four of his past five games, with two goals in that span. However, we would caution at getting too excited: he has just two shots on goal in those games. Altogether, Vey has nine goals and 21 points. Ronalds Kenins also got a goal. Bo Horvat, Chris Higgins and Jannik Hansen chipped in with the assists.

Zack Kassian potted his ninth goal of the season to lift the Canucks to a 2-1 win over Boston Tuesday night.

Kassian has now found the back of the net four times in his last three games, thanks to the fact he's been paired with Daniel and Henrik Sedin on Vancouver's top line. The offense isn't likely to last, but he may score to enough to be worth owning for his meaty penalty minute totals. Ryan Stanton also scored for the Canucks in the win.

Ronalds Kenins recorded two assists in a 5-4 shootout win over the New York Rangers.

Kenins' career is off to an impressive start as he's scored three goals and six points in nine contests. If you like to gamble on hot players, then that's fine, but don't look at him as a long-term option. Despite his great start, we remain skeptical about his ability to maintain an offensive pace great enough to make him noteworthy in standard leagues for the rest of the season.

The Vancouver Canucks have placed Alexander Edler on the injured reserve list with an upper body injury.

Edler was injured a week ago and has not resumed skating with the Canucks. Vancouver is hurting on the blueline with Edler, Chris Tanev, Frank Corrado and Kevin Bieksa out, so look for the Canucks to make a move at the trade deadline if not before, for some defensive depth.

Dan Hamhuis provided two assists for the Canucks on Thursday night, but Vancouver came up well short in a 6-3 loss to Buffalo.

The veteran blueliner now has 14 assists through 39 games this season, a minus-five rating and 25 penalty minutes. Unfortunately, his shutdown capabilities don't translate well into fantasy value, so the 32-year-old is best left alone in leagues.

Chris Tanev (head) practiced for the first time on Saturday but will not play on Sunday.

Tanev did not feel well after practice so he still needs some time before returning to action. "I just didn’t feel good after I skated," Tanev explained. "It was just the usual things (symptoms) for head injuries but it’s something you don’t want to take too lightly so you proceed with caution. "I've felt pretty good since I've started working out and skating. I’ll take it day-by-day here and proceed like the symptoms let me and, hopefully, I keep going symptom free. Obviously I’d like to be back as soon as I can but I’m not going to rush back."

Yannick Weber scored a goal and an assist in Vancouver's 6-5 shootout win over St. Louis.

This was a wild game. The Canucks were up 5-2 with less than 14 minutes remaining before the Blues scored three unanswered goals to force overtime. Weber had just one point in his last 10 games coming into this game, so the Canucks will appreciate his offensive contribution. Nick Bonino, Radim Vrbata and Chris Higgins all scored in the shootout to give the Canucks the win. Weber has six goals and 14 points in 47 games this season.

Ryan Stanton and Adam Clendening will be healthy scratches against the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night.

It'll be Stanton's third straight game in the stands. He has seven points, 27 PIMs, 57 hits, and 63 blocks through 34 games thus far. Clendening meanwhile has just two points in four career NHL games, but has 22 goals and 118 points in 185 career AHL games since 2012-13. All of which previously came with the Chicago Blackhawks and Rockford IceHogs.

In his NHL debut, Alex Biega scored the eventual winner as his first career goal in Monday's big 3-2 win over Minnesota.

It was a ripper too. As Henrik Sedin's deft backhand pass sailed past Alex Burrows, Biega stepped into it and put it past Devan Dubnyk through Burrows' screen. The goal made it 3-1 midway through the third period, securing the game. Congrats to Alex Biega on a memorable start to his career.

Adam Clendening will be back on the blue line for the Canucks in Wednesday’s game versus the Blackhawks.

Wednesday will be Clendening’s first game against his former team who traded him earlier this year in exchange for Gustav Forsling. The 22-year-old defenseman has a goal and two assists in eight games this season and will be paired up with Ryan Stanton to form the third defensive pairing for Vancouver.

Frank Corrado (upper body) practiced on Saturday and could play on Sunday.

The Canucks would have to send a player to the minors as they have to take Corrado off the injured reserve list. Corrado has missed 13 games with the injury and was paired with Adam Clendening in practice. "When you’re not with the team for a month, you’re a little bit rusty but health-wise, I feel good and ready to help and contribute," said Corrado. "The injury has kind of progressed nicely, it’s healed and it’s as good as it’s going to get. It happened in the first period of that Minnesota game. I felt it big-time. I left after the first TV timeout in the second period to kind of see what it was, we didn’t know and I finished that game. Then I tried to go on for practice the next day and, obviously, couldn’t do it. We had an MRI and it kind of showed some stuff. So that’s how it went."

Eddie Lack allowed five goals on 39 shots in Sunday's 6-5 shootout win over St. Louis.

The Canucks held a 5-2 lead with under 14 minutes remaining when the Blues got goals from Dmitrij Jaskin, Petteri Lindbohm and David Backes to tie the game. Lack allowed three goals on 17 shots in the final frame, but he was lucky in overtime as the Blues fired two shots off the goalpost. The 27-year-old improves his record to 8-8-2 on the season.